Personal loan lender IDBI Bank has agreed to Federal Bank’s long-standing demand that its name should be included in the 3-way life insurance partnership promoted by both the lenders in association with Belgian insurer Ageas. The JV IDBI Fortis Life is now renamed
In this JV, IDBI Bank has 48% stake, Federal Bank 26% and Belgian insurer Ageas has the remaining 26%. Federal Bank was eager that the insurance venture also carry its name, since the size of its branch network equals that of IDBI Bank.
This was made possible because of the sequence of events. First was the decision of Fortis to rename itself as Ageas. Also both IDBI Bank and Federal Bank saw the change in leadership. The new name was authorized by the bank’s board as well as the regulator.
GV Nageswara Rao, MD & CEO of IDBI Federal said, the rebranding will let the company get a stronger grip in the south, especially Kerala where Federal Bank has a solid presence. Till now, most customers of Federal were unaware of the fact that their bank was a partner in a life insurance company.